As Sonic takes on Nepthys' forces (by the way, I honestly didn't realise Nepthys was a woman), the other guys successfully break out Shamars Gaia Key guardian Ehsan. With that done, Chip flies over to inform Sonic of the rescue, meaning he can just leave now. Later after the heroes leave, we learn what some of us were suspecting since part 1: Spike and co were in league with Nepthys, and they informed her that Sonic was coming. They're common goal appears to be to keep the balance of power in the region. The story ends with Nepthys about to contact Eggman, only to be surprised when he contacts her first: he needs her to take part in a "priority mission", forshadowing Eggman's Dozen.

In the final part of "Hidden Costs", Cassia offers to let Bunnie go as long as they can keep the emerald. Bunnie's having none of it and makes a grab for the emerald (surprising Cassia and the other troops with more upgrades they didn't know she had). The troop she elbowed away attempted to shoot her down as she flew away, but Cassia stopped him, saying "she obviously wanted that emerald more than we did). Cassia and the troops return to Clove, and Cassia suddenly falls ill. Meanwhile, the girls return to the Sky Patrol and rejoice with Antoine and Cream, unaware the Tails Doll is hiding in a vent, listening in. Back at Egg Army base, we get a little insight into the pronghorn sisters situation: they joined the Egg Army as Eggman claimed that Cassia gaining cybernetics would cure her of her illness. Of course he was lying, as Clove is horrified to learn. Later, Clove visits her sister, who's resting. She decides not to reveal the sad truth she's learned.

In the off-panel, Chip uses cookies to lure Cookie Monsters into the temple to distract the Egg Army.

Curiouser and Curiouser, the web of intrigue with the Egg Bosses continues. Cassia and Clove joining Eggman out of necessity was given, but Nephthys just being concerned on maintaining the balance of power in the area and not crushing the Freedom Fighters is also interesting. Makes me wonder what his ultimate agenda is. Kinda sucks that the new Freedom Fighters were in league with the Egg Boss, but if it's to keep the peace, I wonder what they gain from it to do something like that.

Xabin wrote:Kinda sucks that the new Freedom Fighters were in league with the Egg Boss, but if it's to keep the peace, I wonder what they gain from it to do something like that.

I guess it's a good trait for them not to be truly trusted like the sand blasters. What they gain is no harm on them and who they're protecting unless Eggman is within the area. Nepthys can only do, but so much for the little agreement she has with the new freedom fighters. Nepthys can back stab them at anytime if she wants to.

I just wonder what set up the agreement, in the first place; why would Nephthys agree to it? What does she get out of the deal? What would Eggman do if he knew about it? What about the other Egg Bosses, how would they react to the deal?

When dealing with anyone except the protagonist and their friends they are surprisingly competent. Might be that the bar for strength or intelligence is much lower for the average guy but still. It's because they keep losing to the protagonist who is way above average that they look to be weak or incompetent. You don't exactly take over and enslave half the planet by being a slouch.

-- that the Desert Bandits see benefit in a chapter of the Egg Army being there because they bring supplies and equipment that make the region more habitable. By agreeing to a truce with the locals Nepthys is able to set up and maintain her operations for Eggman. Meanwhile the Desert Bandits get to " skim " (actually are given) whatever they need to survive by Nephthys in exchange for discouraging or turning in any actual form of resistance like the Freedom Fighters. Eggman probably doesn't care how Nephthys maintains control of the region as long as she does and can supply him with what he needs when he needs it.

... I like it. It's kind of refreshing to see the Egg Bosses showing shreds of humanity despite being villains. They're not in it for the quick cheap victory. They're not plotting some big master plan and throwing in all their chips. It feels They seem to be thinking about the long haul and how to maintain their rank and position.

-- that the Desert Bandits see benefit in a chapter of the Egg Army being there because they bring supplies and equipment that make the region more habitable. By agreeing to a truce with the locals Nepthys is able to set up and maintain her operations for Eggman. Meanwhile the Desert Bandits get to " skim " (actually are given) whatever they need to survive by Nephthys in exchange for discouraging or turning in any actual form of resistance like the Freedom Fighters. Eggman probably doesn't care how Nephthys maintains control of the region as long as she does and can supply him with what he needs when he needs it.

It's a bit more than that actually, though if you don't have the issue then you may want to skim over this post.

The Shamar FF's and Nepthys are actually long time friends, and Nepthys is mostly running her Egg Army chapter for appearances. Nepthys herself says that she doesn't believe that Eggman can be stopped and that the only options are to either die opposing him or live serving him, so she does the latter for the sake of keeping the people in the region safe from him. However, she only does as much as she has to to keep control of the region without gaining much new ground or resources for Eggman. Meanwhile, the Shamar FF's assume the appearance of a rebel group fighting Eggman to keep the spirits of the people up, while simultaneously quelling any actual resistance before they get big enough for Eggman to get mad about.

Basically, all four of them are anti-villains at worst and the only thing keeping them from being a legit FF group is a bit of hope. It's kinda sad, but also a new and very interesting dynamic. I wonder how long they have before Sonic and Co. find out the truth.

The first story is a bit better then previous. It's nothing special, but it's intriguing to see that every new Egg Boss has his own motivation to work for Eggman.I wondered if this FF group will be evil. Everything pointed to it, but I tried to imagine them with willy smiles, evil clothing and overall doing evil stuff and it looked weird. So making them anti-villains kinda makes sense....Then again, maybe it would be funny to have a villains who don't look all evil and sinister.

Second story is really good. I just love Cassia in it and it's nice to see Eggman doing something evil and smart. Lately all his moves were kinda dumb. Even when we won, Orbot still had to emphasis how risky his moves were.

I kind of am liking Nephthys more and more, because she isn't a conventionally attractive villainess and the same time she is given some semi-sympathetic qualities. Usually, unattractive female villains often times are more straight up evil than their more attractive counterparts. Although she is intimidating, she still has complex reasons for being on Eggman's side. It makes me love how Flynn portrays different female characters, because often times they take on archetypes usually reserved for guys.

And he also shows that even though this world is lighter and softer than the original universe, it doesn't stop Eggman for putting dirty tricks on people. Yeah, he might be closer to his game counterpart, however, he still retains some of his original comic counterpart's nastiness.